The last time I saw Stars was this past summer at Osheaga, and I was so disappointed by their performance that I was all but ready to give up on seeing them live again (this was my 4th Stars show). Thankfully, I was encouraged to give them another shot, as they definitely earned redemption on Saturday night.

The show was opened by Montreal’s Young Galaxy who put on a good performance, albeit a little bland. I think their energy would have translated better at a smaller venue. Interestingly, vocalist Catherine McCandless was the first of two pregnant women to perform (Amy Millan, Stars’ lead singer, is also pregnant). Not everyday you see that…

I got there early and scored an amazing spot – directly behind the sound board, elevated at least a foot above the rest of the crowd. Pretty much dead center, and with a clear view of the entire stage. It’s become a little cumbersome to carry an SLR camera to every show I go to, so I just took my Lumix LX-3, with which I managed some decent shots:

Vocalist Torquil Campbell was back to his usual self, full of emotional energy, and theatrical without being cheesy. Towards the end of the show, he got so carried away with a bear hug that he tackled Young Galaxy’s Stephen Ramsay (out to perform a song with Stars) into the wings off stage. He seemed to be riding a pretty fierce high for most of the show, returned and enhanced by the enthusiastic crowd.

I had forgotten how Amy Millan’s voice is able to sound sweet and whispered at one moment and crisp and penetrating the next. I wish she were the lead singer of more rock bands so I could hear her sing more often. While she has released a couple of much softer solo albums, it’s the range she displays in Stars that really shines. Even through the densest bass, most piercing keys and distorted guitar, Amy’s voice is always there. Kudos to the sound guys on that too…

I have to assume that along with being their last show of 2010, this also might be their last show for a bit longer than that. As I mentioned, Amy Millan is pregnant, due in the spring of next year, and bassist Evan Cranley is the father. I’m sure it’s been done, but I don’t see them touring again for quite a while, at least with the same lineup. So I’m thankful I can say I was there for this one, and hope it wasn’t the last.

Stars are easily one of my five favorite bands. They’ve put on some of the best shows I’ve ever been to. And their live performances have made me love songs of theirs that I previously couldn’t stand listening to (The Ghost of Genova Heights comes to mind). So it’s fair to say that I had high expectations for their set at Osheaga – in their hometown.

Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as I’d hoped. We headed over to their stage about halfway through K’Naan’s set (he was playing on the other main stage) to stake out a good spot, which we got. Unlike the other bands that had been playing back-to-back on alternating main stages, Stars didn’t take the stage right after K’Naan ended. I could hear the seconds of unplayed music being wasted.

They came onstage to huge applause and threw out some of the roses tied all around the stage to the audience – a nice touch. Then it went quickly awry. As the first note was played, Torquil Campbell (1/2 of the lead singing duo with Amy Millan) began throwing what ended up being a half-set temper tantrum because the sound in his earphones was either completely broken or just way off.

No matter how justified he was, his attitude immediately turned me off of the music. I couldn’t help but cringe as he whipped the corded microphone around the stage, leaving mic stands, keyboards and stage crew on the ground in his wake. By the time he got over it, Stars did manage to really nail “Take Me To The Riot,” and “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” two of my favorites. So ultimately there was redemption, and Amy Millan sang as wonderfully as ever, but what I’ll remember most about that show is the attitude.

I’m planning on seeing Stars again in Montreal in December, and I’m hoping Torquil can leave the other stuff off stage and put on a performance that I know he and the rest of the band are capable of putting on.

Last week I pre-ordered the new Stars album The Five Ghosts on iTunes, and either by some iTunes mistake or a nice little “thank you” to those who pre-ordered, I was able to download the album – and accompanying EP The Seance – today instead of tomorrow. [Just checked their website and found this: "Due to demand of retailers in both Canada and the USA, the new street date for The Five Ghosts will be JUNE 21, 2010 - both physically and digitally."]

Upon first listen, the EP is outstanding and way outshines the LP. Though I really wanted to order the limited edition 7″ box set, I think now I’m probably glad I didn’t drop that $100. But I am definitely looking forward to spending some more time with this album today and in the coming weeks as I gear up to see Stars at Osheaga.

Late Update: I changed my mind, at least in terms of the LP. Damnit I love Stars. Call them — or me — what you will, but Stars are definitely top 10 favorite bands of the 2000s for me, and this album only cements that status. It’s time to make an interview with these folks a serious goal of mine.

During my weekly music search, I’m often annoyed at the amount of Arcade Fire references used to describe bands. Having had my mind (and ears) blown by the muscular, triumphant sounds and crushing decrescendos of The Arcade Fire at The Orpheum Theatre in May of ’07, I have no tolerance for it. It’s just not possible to make as much noise as them and still make it sound beautiful.

So I’m going to try my hardest not to be that cheap with my descriptions of The Joy Formidable‘s A Balloon Called Moaning, despite the obvious ease of such a comparison (see how I worked that in there, while at the same point dismissing it?). I’ll also try not to draw any simplistic connection between this album and Metric’s latest release, Fantasies, but know that I’m trying really hard.

The Joy Formidable are Ritzy Brian on vocals/guitar, Rhydian Dafydd on vocals/bass and Matt Thomas on drums – a London-based rock trio with serious sound. They’ve filled A Balloon Called Moaning with thrashing drums, driving guitar riffs and haunting vocals. I’m a sucker for accents – any accent will do, really – and The Joy Formidable don’t disappoint. Ritzy’s voice manages to shine through all of the sound, and on some songs – notably “The Last Drop” – almost serves as a sedative to offset the gushing energy of the music.

“9669″ is fairly stripped down compared to the other songs, and shows shades of a the theatrical male-female duet mastered by Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan of Stars. But you could almost miss the song entirely with such rich, powerful and emotionally charged music surrounding it.

It is definitely impossible to sit still while listening to this album. And I don’t run, but Rachel swears by A Balloon Called Moaning as a motivational jogging (soft j) companion. I guess my twitching, tapping feet and nodding head would tend to agree with the sentiment.

I highly recommend this album, and think you’ll find yourself turning it up and bobbing along with me in no time.

Check out the official video for their tune “Austere” from A Balloon Called Moaning:

Sunday was marathon day in Burlington, so to avoid the crowds I headed up to Montreal to catch Angus & Julia Stone. I wrote about their latest album, Down The Way, a couple of weeks ago. Read about it and listen to one of their tunes here.

This was my first time to L’Astral – in fact, the first time I’d heard of it. That’s a bit of a rarity, especially given the size of the venue and the fact that I’d passed it several times before when in the neighborhood (Metropolis and Club Soda are both within blocks). It’s a pretty cool venue, minus the two huge deadspots created by giant pillars just off the front corners of the stage. They list capacity at 600 standing, and though last night’s show sold out, I have a hard time believing there were nearly that many people. That made for a decent spot by the side of the stage and room to walk around if I felt like it.

The balcony level is really cool, especially for the folks who get there early enough to have a chair at the very front. I wasn’t one of those people, but I did snap a photo from in between two of them:

Anyhow, to the music. Jeff Robataille (sp?), a local, opened with a few songs with an acoustic guitar. A few of the teen girls up front seemed to find him quite special, but I didn’t particularly care for it.

After fixing a snafu with the haze machine (apparently it had hazed the backstage area quite effectively, but hadn’t made it through the curtains to the stage area), Angus & Julia Stone took the stage. To describe their onstage presence as meek isn’t really fair, because it doesn’t capture their earnest and obvious tenderness, but they are both very, very quiet. They played a couple of songs alone, then were joined by a bassist and a drummer for nearly the rest of the set.

The music was as ethereal and delightful as I had expected – a very impressive performance by this clearly talented sibling duo. Julia’s voice definitely stole the show in my eyes. Her sweet, breathy vocals also showed flashes of a stunningly powerful and rich sound, leaving me thinking her range as a singer isn’t even partially captured by their catalog. And her Dorothy-red high-heeled shoes definitely added to her impressive aura. Angus & Julia played a wide selection from both of their albums, and were about to play a new one when someone yelled a suggestion from the audience which they played instead (I wish I had shouted words of encouragement for them to try the new one – they were obviously hesitant and easily overwhelmed).

Julia is also an impressive musician – playing both acoustic & electric guitars as well as harmonica, trumpet and piano.

My favorites were “Yellow Brick Road” and “I’m Not Yours” from their latest release. Neil Young, an inspiration and a subject of “Yellow Brick Road,” was definitely well represented and honored with their tribute. I’d actually pay really good money to see that collaboration.

For all their shyness, both Angus and Julia managed to share some quite endearing and entertaining yarns about the subject or the impetus for a particular song. Honestly, I just don’t get why a person would respond to a love-song manifesto from Julia Stone with a hip-hop ballad (one of the stories she told), but then I also don’t get why Emily Haines or Amy Millan have sad love songs to sing. Who are the morons that are screwing these people over? I guess it’s hard to complain when it results in such emotionally charged goodness for my ears.

Although I love Angus’ voice on their latest record, I think that he certainly has the most room for growth in terms of the band. He has a pretty voice, and when sung softly, his lyrics are incredibly compelling and touching, but I definitely found myself wishing he’d step out of his shell and really wow the audience with something more.

Angus & Julia Stone is a show I highly recommend seeing if they are in your area. And if they aren’t, I’d still recommend picking up their latest album. I’m glad I made the haul to Montreal last night, even though the U.S. customs agent gave me an unnecessarily hard time on the way back in (which the Canadian border guard correctly forewarned me about on the way to Canada), and clearly had his facts wrong when it comes to “proper documentation” and the legalities of making photocopies of one’s passport.

p.s. Julia covered the tune “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease. Need I say more?

Well, two months after picking up tickets to this summer’s Osheaga Music & Arts Festival in a dizzied state of excitement, the good news just keeps on coming. Osheaga just announced another dozen or so artists, including Ra Ra Riot and Still Life Still.

I think actually we’re now getting into the situation where there might be too many bands that I want to see, such that I’ll end up having to miss some sets. I guess in the grand scheme of things, that’s a pretty good problem to have.

Just bought tickets for Osheaga. We’ve wanted to go for the past couple of years, but it always seemed like the lineup was missing that one extra special band that would make the trip worth it. So what did the good folks at Osheaga do? Well they got LOTS of extra special bands.

Seriously, this is ridiculous. Arcade Fire, Stars, Metric, The National and Black Keys all in one place! And just a short 90 minute drive from Burlington. I went to a wedding last summer on the same island where they hold Osheaga, and it was absolutely beautiful. If the bands above weren’t good enough incentive, Blitzen Trapper. Pavement, Jimmy Cliff and Beach House are all going to be there.